Bait alert for spin cast reel

ABSTRACT

The structure is intended for incorporation into a conventional type fishing reel having a spool for retaining a supply of line, a crank handle and a drive train operable through the crank handle to direct line onto the spool. The drive train has at least one rotatable member which coacts with a clicker that is mounted on the reel movably between a first position wherein a portion of the clicker contacts the one rotating element of the drive train to produce an audible noise and a second position wherein the portion of the clicker is spaced from the drive train elements. An actuator associated with one of the rotating elements of the drive train, upon being rotated in a first direction, shifts the clicker to its first position in contact with one of the elements of the drive train. Upon the rotating element associated with the actuator being rotated oppositely to the first direction, the actuator causes the clicker to shift to its second position so that no sound will be produced as the reel is operated.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to bait clickers on fishing reels and, moreparticularly, relates to a bait clicker that is automatically disengagedupon the users operating the crank handle to retrieve line.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Bait clickers, or alerts, are commonly employed in all types of fishingreels. Without a warning from the bait clicker, a user of a reel with alight drag setting might not otherwise be aware that line is being drawnout either by a fish or because the bait is snagged. This isparticularly a problem with today's smoothly and quietly operatingreels.

It is known to provide clickers with elements that bear against a gearor the like that is rotated as the line is retrieved. With suchconventional structures, generally only fixed "on" and "off" positionscan be selected by the user of the reel.

The biggest drawback with the conventional reels is that if the userchooses the "on" position, once a fish is hooked the clicker willcontinue to operate. The clicker sound is annoying, distracting and insome reel constructions the clicker affects the smoothness of theretrieval mechanism.

To avoid this problem, one must either choose between leaving theclicker in the "off" position and risk that the removal of line might goundetected or releasing the clicker once a fish has been hooked. Withthe latter option one must stop reeling, hold the rod and reel with onehand and at the same time release the clicker. One thereby risksdropping the rod and reel and/or loosing the fish as the line retrievalis interrupted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is specifically directed to overcome theabove-enumerated problems in a novel and simple manner.

The inventive structure is intended for incorporation into aconventional type fishing reel having a spool for retaining a supply ofline, a crank handle and a drive train operable through the crank handleto direct line onto the spool. The drive train has at least onerotatable member which coacts with a clicker that is mounted on the reelmovably between a first position wherein a portion of the clickercontacts the one rotating element of the drive train to produce anaudible noise and a second position wherein the portion of the clickeris spaced from the drive train elements. An actuator associated with oneof the rotating elements of the drive train, upon being rotated in afirst direction, shifts the clicker to its first position in contactwith one of the elements of the drive train. Upon the rotating elementassociated with the actuator being rotated oppositely to the firstdirection, the actuator causes the clicker to shift to its secondposition so that no sound will be produced as the reel is operated.

With the above arrangement the operator is alerted to the withdrawal ofline from the spool and upon operating the crank handle, the clickerdisengages so that smooth and silent operation of the reel occurs.

The invention also contemplates the provision of a manual override ofthe actuator so that the clicker can be fixed in its second, disengagedposition regardless of the rotation of the drive train members withwhich it is associated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional style reel intowhich the present invention is incorporated;

FIG. 2 is a left side elevation view of the assembled reel of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the parts of the presentinvention in position in the reel of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged rear elevation view of the reel in FIG. 2 with therear cover removed and showing a preferred form of bait alert structureaccording to the present invention with the structure maintained fixedlyin a disengaged position;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to that in FIG. 4 with the clicker in theengaged position and with the structure set for automatic movementbetween engaged and disengaged positions;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to that in FIG. 4 with the structure set as inFIG. 4 and the clicker in the disengaged position; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view of the bait alertstructure along line 7--7 of FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE BASIC STRUCTURE AND OPERATION OF THE FISHING REEL

Referring initially to FIG. 1, there is shown a reel 10 including aclosed face housing having a reel body 20 to which is attached a frontcup-shaped cover 11 and a rear cup-shaped cover 12. The front covertapers radially forwardly from the cylindrical first part 11a to definea cone-shaped second part 11b. A circular line opening is provided inthe conical second part 11b and mounts an annular line guide 16 in aconventional manner. The front cover 11 is removably attached with anannular rim 400 on the reel body 20 in a conventional manner. The rearcover 12 is removably attachable in a conventional manner with arearwardly opening rim 412 associated with the back of the reel body 20.

The rear cover 12 has a sloped wall 420 defining a rectangular opening28 for reception of a one-piece thumb button 29. The thumb button has ashape substantially mating with the shape of the opening 28 in the rearcover 12 and has a pair of sidewardly extending pivots 30 on the upperforward side edges thereof which engage in pivot openings 31 formed inthe adjacent side walls 32 of the opening 28. A lip 422 extendslaterally along the bottom edge of the thumb button 29. With the thumbbutton assembled from the inside of the cover 12, the pivots 30 areintroduced to the slotted openings 31 in the walls 32 of the rear cover.The lip 422 abuts the edge 424 of the wall defining the bottom of therectangular opening 28 to prevent the thumb button 29 from pivotingrearwardly out of the opening 28 in the rear cover 12.

The reel body 20 includes a transverse mounting plate or deck plate 21and has an integrally molded, radially extending stem 25 with a mountingfoot 26 on the outer end thereof for attachment to the appropriate partof a fishing rod (not shown).

A central hub 35 is formed with and projects forwardly of the deck plate21 and receives in succession a drag plate 210, back spool washer 230,back flat drag washer 233, spool assembly 130, front flat drag washer235, front spool washer 237, all of which are retained on the hub 35 bymeans of a spool retainer clip 240 which fits into a groove aligned witha shoulder separating the hub 35 from a reduced diameter and camsupporting front portion 241.

A centershaft 251 is slidably and rotatably mounted in a bore extendingthrough the deck plate 21 and hub 35, with a spinner head assembly 242threaded onto the forward threaded end of the shaft 251. The spinnerhead assembly 242 partially surrounds the forward flange 428 of thespool assembly 130 with a supply of fishing line 99 being wound on aspool 131 of the spool assembly 130. A pinion gear 260 is splined on areduced diameter splined portion 252 of the centershaft 251 and isresiliently maintained in a forward position against the deck plate 21by a centershaft spring 265 bearing against a stop 255 on thecentershaft. The splined connection between the pinion gear 260 andcentershaft 251 permits the axial sliding motion of the shaft 251relative to the pinion gear 260 while at the same time rotation of thepinion gear 260 will rotate the centershaft 251.

Depressing the thumb button 29 moves the centershaft 251 and spinnerhead assembly 242 forward relative to the hub 35 to retract a pickup pinmechanism 432, mounted on spinner head assembly 242. Manipulating thethumb button in a conventional manner will provide a braking action tothe line, will permit casting of the line or will permit retrieving theline onto the spool.

The deck plate 21 has a rearwardly projecting boss 40 with a laterallydirected bore 434 for reception, in a concentric manner, of a crankshaft42, surrounded by a cylindrical sleeve bearing 436. The bearing 436 hasan annular groove 438 which, with the bearing properly aligned on thereel body 20 is in planar alignment with a slot defined at the rear ofthe deck plate 21 within a radially inward extension of the boss. A clip440 surrounds the sleeve bearing 436 and resides within the groove 438,with forwardly projecting legs 442 of the clip 440 entering the slot inthe deck plate 21. This arrangement assures proper positioning of thesleeve bearing 436 and prevents any lateral shifting thereof.

The crankshaft 42, with a main pinion gear 313 attached at one end isrotated in the sleeve bearing 436 in the boss 40 and has a handle 332attached by means of a nut 333 to the other end of said crankshaft 42.The gear 313 meshes with the pinion gear 260 on the centershaft 251 sothat rotation of the crank handle 332 will rotate the centershaft 251and spinner head assembly 242.

An anti-reverse assembly 330, which is associated with the crankshaft42, includes a ratchet (not shown in FIG. 1) fixed on the back of thegear 313 for rotation with the gear 313 and crankshaft 42. Theanti-reverse assembly 330 includes a pivotable pawl 321, a pawl actuator324 and a control member 446. The pawl actuator 324 has a pair ofbifurcated legs 326 which grip the surface of the crankshaft 42 withsufficient force that the pawl actuator 324 will rotate with thecrankshaft 42, but will slide relative to the crankshaft 42 when thegripping force is exceeded. An actuator tab 327 extends transverse tothe plane of the pawl actuator 324 and engages in a recess 328 in thepawl 321. The pawl 321 will be situated with the pawl tooth 323selectively aligned with the ratchet.

Independent, manual control of the pawl 321 is accomplished by theseparate control member 446 mounted within a lateral bore 448 in a boss450 spaced beneath the boss 40. The control member 446 is manipulableexernally of the reel body. Clockwise rotation of the control member446, as viewed in FIG. 1, will pivot the pawl about the pivot tab 322out of engagement with the ratchet. Thus movement of the crank handle332 in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction by the user,with the pawl 321 manually disengaged by the control member 446, willnot effect movement of the pawl 321 and thus clockwise andcounterclockwise crankshaft rotation will be uninhibited by the pawl321.

Counterclockwise rotation of the control member 446 will allow the pawl321 to be moved freely between two limiting positions so that rotationof the crank handle 332 in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed inFIG. 1, will pivot the pawl out of alignment with the teeth of theratchet, whereupon the crank handle 323 will be permitted to be rotatedin that direction without interference. In addition, with the controlmember 446 in the counterclockwise position, rotation of the handle 332in the clockwise direction moves the pawl actuator 324 in the clockwisedirection with the tab 327 pivoting the pawl 321 in a counterclockwisedirecition to move the pawl into the path of the ratchet teeth to stopfurther rotation of the crankshaft 42 and handle 332 in that direction.

Drag actuation is effected by a knurled drag wheel 460 which is capturedin and protrudes through a slot 462 beyond the outer surface of the reelbody 20. The wheel 460 has a threaded bore and is suspended for rotationby a longitudinally directed bolt 466 extending through the spaced wallsflanking the wheel 460.

The drag washer 210 has a substantially flat body 468 and hasdiametrically opposed tabs 470 bent perpendicularly in a commondirection out of the plane of the body 468. The deck plate 21 haslocating apertures for receiving each of the tabs 470. The one apertureis in direct alignment with the bolt 466 suspending the drag wheel 460.The forward end 472 of the bolt is slotted and is accessible through theone aperture to receive the one tab 470 of the drag plate 210.

This arrangement of the drag plate 210 prohibits rotation of the bolt466 as the drag wheel 460 is manipulated. As a result, rotation of thedrag wheel effects fore or aft movement of the bolt 460 relative to thereel body 20. Rotation of the wheel in a first direction forces the tab470 and drag washer forwardly increasing drag braking pressure on thespool 131. Retraction of the bolt 466 and reduction of the brakingpressure is accomplished by rotation of the drag wheel 460 oppositely tothe first direction.

The reel is provided with an improved bait alert structure 500 having aknob 506 seated in boss 482 and is manipulable by the user betweenengaged and unengaged positions, with silent reel operation occurringwith the knob 506 in the latter position. The bait alert structure 500consists of an actuator 504, a clicker 502 and the knob 506 with theclicker 502 having a click finger 518 selectively engagable with thepinion 260 on the centershaft 251. The details of the construction andoperation of the bait alert are set forth herein in the description ofthe preferred embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The spin cast style reel described above is only exemplary of a reelwithin which the present invention can be incorporated. The inventivestructure can be adapted to, for example, spinning, casting and otherstyle reels.

Reference now is made to FIGS. 3-7 wherein the inventive structure isshown in detail. The bait alert structure at 500 is mounted rearwardlyof the deck plate 21 and comprises the clicker 502, the actuator 504 andthe manual override knob 506. The bait alert 500 is only operative whenthe control member 446 of the antireverse assembly 330 is set in the"off" position as will appear more clearly hereinafter.

The clicker 502 takes a substantially flat, L-shape and has a bore 508at the juncture of the legs 510, 512 into which bore is closely fit acylindrical post 514. The post 514 is integrally formed with the deckplate 21 and extends rearwardly therefrom so that the clicker ispivotable in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of therearwardly facing surface 516 of the deck plate 21. The plane ofpivoting of the clicker coincides with the splined pinion gear 260 onthe center shaft 251.

The one leg 510 of the clicker 502 has a bendable, deflectable finger518 integrally formed therewith and projecting substantiallyperpendicularly from the leg length. At the free end of the leg 510 isan offset 520 with a surface 522 that is curved to substantially matchthe outer diameter of the pinion gear 260. The clicker 502 can bepivoted about post 514 to present the curved surface 522 against thepinion to establish a substantial friction generating contact area. Thesurface 522 serves principally to limit the extent of clockwise rotationof the clicker in FIGS. 3-6.

With the surface 522 abutting the pinion gear, the finger 518 is forcedagainst the teeth of the pinion gear and is preferably sufficiently longthat it extends as far as the roots of adjacent teeth between which itextends.

Automatic operation of the clicker is accomplished through the actuator504, which cooperates with the center shaft 251, which, in conjunctionwith the crank shaft 42, makes up the drive train transmitting motionbetween the crank handle 332 and the spinner head assembly 242. That is,as soon as the bait hits the water, the handle 332 is rotated clockwisejust enough to actuate the pick-up pin 432 into the extended position.Hereinafter any pull on the line, i.e. a fish being caught, will tend torotate the the spinner head 242 and the centershaft 251 in acounterclockwise direction. The actuator 504 is substantially flat andhas an aperture 524 which accepts a reduced diameter portion 526 of thecenter shaft immediately behind the pinion gear 260. The forwardlyfacing surface 528 (FIG. 7) of the actuator 504 facially abuts therearwardly facing surface 530 of the clicker. The actuator 504 iscaptive between the spring 265 at the rear of the center shaft and thepinion gear 260 and is thereby biasably maintained against the piniongear 260. The thickness of the clicker is chosen so that with theclicker and actuator facially aligned, the forwardly facing surface ofthe actuator resides in slightly spaced relationship from the rearwardlyfacing surface 532 of the pinion 260. A friction pad 534 is interposedbetween the actuator 504 and pinion 260 and under the compressive forceof the spring 265, causes a slip fit connection to be establishedbetween the actuator and pinion gear 260. Consequently, the actuatorwill follow movement of the crank shaft until a predetermined resistiveforce is encountered which is determined by the nature of the padmaterial 534 and the constant for the spring 265. With the actuator inplace, the clicker is maintained in operative position on thecylindrical post without requiring any additional fasteners for theclicker.

The actuator has a radially outwardly opening V shaped slot 536 whichcooperates with a post 538 on the clicker, which post extends rearwardlyin alignment with the center shaft axis. The clicker is rotated by theactuator between its furthestmost clockwise position in FIG. 5 and itsextreme counterclockwise position in FIG. 4 wherein an edge 540 on theleg 512 of the clicker abuts a post 542 projecting rearwardly from thedeck plate 21.

FIG. 5 demonstrates the cooperative action of the clicker and actuatoras the pinion is rotated in a counterclockwise direction shown by thedirection of arrow 544, which occurs as line is being withdrawn from thereel. the counterclockwise rotation of the center shaft causes acorresponding movement of the actuator 504 which in turn effects aclockwise pivoting of the clicker about the post 514. As the clickerapproaches the FIG. 5 position, the free end of the finger 518 initiallycontacts the pinion. The counterclockwise rotation of the piniondeflects the free end of the finger downwardly so that the free endbends as shown in FIG. 5. The bend guides the finger over successiveteeth and, as the finger passes the peek of a tooth, the residual forcesin the finger cause it to be propelled against the next adjacent toothwith a sharp rap which produces the audible clicking. The surface 522confines the shifting of the clicker and assures that the finger isconsistently located with respect to the pinion gear 260.

Thus it can be seen that as a fish draws out line, the clicking noisewill be produced. As the user operates the crank handle 332 in responseto the signal that line is being withdrawn, the center shaft moves inthe direction of arrow 546 (FIG. 6) and the actuator 504 follows. Thiscauses counterclockwise pivoting of the clicker in FIG. 6 anddisengagement of the finger 518 from the pinion. The user can therebycontinuously rotate the crank handle to retrieve line without anyclicking noise.

It may be desirable to fix the clicker structure in the "off" position.This is accomplished through the knob 506. The knob 506 has an enlargedcontrol head 548 and an integral, cylindrical body 550 for reception ina bore 552 in the boss 482 on the reel housing. The knob has a first leg554 and a second spaced longer leg 556. The legs project axially throughthe bore in the boss in substantially parallel relationship. The shortleg 554 has a ramped surface 558 which, upon introduction of the body550 of the control knob into the bore deflects the leg 554 towards theother leg 556 sufficiently to permit simultaneous entry of both legsinto the bore. In the fully seated position, the leg 554 springs backand seats an associated shoulder 560 against the boss to maintain theboss captive between the shoulder and the inwardly facing surface 562 ofthe enlarged head 548 on the knob.

The longer leg 556 extends sufficiently into the reel housing tocoincide with the leg 512 of the clicker and coacts with a rearwardlyprojecting offset 564 on the leg 512. Because of its eccentric locationthe leg 556 will engage the offset 564 and move the clicker 502 uponrotation of the knob 506. The "off" position for the knob is depicted inFIG. 4. In this position, the leg 556 urges the clicker in acounterclockwise direction about the post 514 until the surface 540abuts the post 542.

With the bait alert structure in the FIG. 4 setting, the actuator 504will slip as the center shaft is rotated. By rotating the knob 180° tothe FIG. 5 position, the clicker will no longer be dominated by thecontrol knob and the clicker will respond to the movement of theactuator between the extreme clockwise and counterclockwise positions.It can be seen that the user has the option of either fixing the clickerin the "off" position or setting the knob for automatic operation of thebait alert structure.

It should be understood, of course, that the specific forms of theinvention illustrated and described herein are intended to berepresentative only, as certain changes and modifications may be madewithout departing from the scope of the teachings herein disclosed.Accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims inascertaining the full scope of the invention.

I claim:
 1. In a fishing reel of the type having a spool for storing asupply of line and a crank handle operable through a drive train todirect line onto the spool, said drive train having a first memberrotatable in a first direction with the crank handle operated to directline onto the spool and rotatable oppositely to the first direction inresponse to the line being drawn off the spool, an improved bait alertcomprising:a clicker; means mounting the clicker on the reel movablybetween a first position wherein a portion of the clicker contacts thefirst member and produces an audible clicking sound upon the firstmember being rotated and a second position wherein the portion of theclicker is spaced from the first member so that no clicking noise isgenerated between the portion of the clicker and first member upon thefirst member being rotated in the first direction; and actuator meansfor moving the clicker to its second position upon the first memberrotating in the first direction and for moving the clicker to its firstposition upon the first member rotating oppositely to the firstdirection, whereby the user of the reel is alerted by the clicking noiseto the fact that line is being drawn off of the reel as by a fish andupon the user retrieving line through operation of the crank handle theclicking noise is automatically stopped.
 2. The improved bait alertaccording to claim 1 wherein override means are provided, means mountthe override means to the reel for rotation about an axis transverse tothe axis of rotation of the first member between on and off positionsand in the on position of the override means the clicker is maintainedthereby in its second position in spite of the first member rotatingoppositely to the first direction of rotation.
 3. The improved baitalert according to claim 2 wherein means frictionally maintain theactuator means on the first member so that the actuator means followsmovement of the first member and under a predetermined force applied theactuator means slips relative to the first member.
 4. In a fishing reelof the type having a spool for storing a supply of line, a crank handleoperable through a drive train to direct line onto the spool, said drivetrain having a center shaft rotatable in a first direction upon thecrank handle being operated to direct line onto the spool and rotatablein a direction opposite to the first direction in response to line beingdrawn off of the spool, a pinion gear with a generally cylindricalconfiguration and carried by the center shaft and a gear associated withthe crank handle for transmitting movement of the crank handle throughthe pinion gear to the center shaft, an improved bait alert comprising:aclicker; means mounting the clicker movably between a first positionwherein a portion of the clicker contacts the pinion gear to produce anaudible clicking upon the center shaft rotating and a second positionwherein the portion of the clicker is spaced from the pinion gear sothat no clicking noise is generated between the portion of the clickerand pinion gear upon the shaft being rotated in said first direction;and actuator means for moving the clicker to its second position as anincident of the center shaft rotating in its first direction and formoving the clicker to its first position as an incident of thecentershaft rotating oppositely to the first direction, whereby the userof the reel is alerted by the clicking noise to the fact that line isbeing drawn off of the reel as by a fish and upon the user retrievingline through operation of the crank handle the clicking noise isautomatically stopped.
 5. The improved bait alert according to claim 4wherein the actuator means has a portion held biasably captive between aspring associated with the centershaft and the pinion gear.
 6. Theimproved bait alert according to claim 4 wherein the reel has a deckplate, means mount the clicker to the deck plate for rotation about anaxis substantially parallel to the rotational axis of the center shaftand the portion of the clicker that can be selectively brought intocontact with the pinion gear has a deflectable finger having a curvedsurface conforming substantially to the curvature of the pinion gear. 7.The improved bait alert according to claim 4 wherein means mount theactuator means for frictional engagement with the centershaft so thatthe actuator means follows rotational movement of the centershaft. 8.The improved bait alert according to claim 7 wherein override means areprovided to maintain the clicker in its second position in spite of thecenter shaft rotating oppositely to its first direction of rotation andmeans mount the override means for rotation between on and off positionsabout an axis transverse to the axis of rotation of the pinion gear andin said on position of the override means the clicker is maintainedthereby in its second position.
 9. The improved bait alert according toclaim 8 wherein the reel has a housing and the override means comprisesa knob mounted movably within the housing, said knob having a portionengagable with the clicker and said knob being movable between a firstknob position wherein the knob portion contacts the clicker and preventsthe clicker from moving out of its second position and a second knobposition wherein the clicker can follow movement of the center shaftbetween the first and second clicker positions without interference fromthe knob portion.